Archive for January, 2014

For fast vegetable cooking and reheating, commercial steamers are your best option. Since steamers use water instead of oils and butter for cooking, the food being cooked will retain more of its nutrients and natural flavors. Steamers are also known for producing faster cooking times, which in turn will increase productivity in your kitchen. In order to ensure the best results from your commercial steamer, follow these cooking tips listed below.

Always preheat your steamer.

Wait until after steaming to break up and season frozen vegetables, never before.

When steaming vegetables, always use a perforated pan.

Use a solid catch pan underneath any meat that is being steamed in a perforated pan.

Make sure that the drain is 6 feet away from the steamer.

It’s also important to consider whether you prefer a steamer that is a convection steamer or convectionless. The main difference between the two is that convection steamers come with a fan which allows for more even cooking. And finally, make sure to only use a new AGA commercial gas flex hose with the purchase of your new commercial steamer. These hoses are designed to be extremely heavy duty and almost always have a brass quick connect. The plumber supplied home-type flex hoses are not built for commercial applications and are not NSF approved.You can shop for commercial steamershereat ShortOrder.com.

Recently we’ve been bringing you advice about common restaurant equipment questions like how to choose a fryer and fixes for common commercial ice machine problems. This week we’re focusing on commercial sinks. No restaurant should be without a commercial sink, but there are a lot of factors to consider when buying a commercial sink. Today, ShortOrder is answering some of the most common questions about commercial sinks so you can choose the right one for your restaurant.

1. What kinds of commercial sinks are there?

There are dish/compartment sinks, mop sinks, and hand sinks. Dish/compartment sinks with 3 compartments are the restaurant standard. The 3 compartments of dish/compartment sinks are each dedicated to a specific purpose: one for washing, one for rinsing, and one for sanitizing. By separating these 3 functions, your kitchen (more…)

Sometimes ice machines just won’t cooperate. Whether you have too much ice or too little, a leaky unit, or a loud ice maker, ice machine malfunctions can throw a real wrench in the works at your establishment. But don’t worry—ShortOrder is here to help you troubleshoot. Once you’ve checked the obvious culprits (like the ice machine’s indicator lights and power supply) it’s time to take a closer look at the issue. Here are our tips for the top 5 common ice machine problems and how to fix them.

1. Combating Ice Machine Slime

Without proper maintenance, ice machine slime is a common problem among ice machine owners. This slime that accumulates inside the machine is a type of mold or fungus that forms when surfaces that are constantly covered with water droplets are exposed to warm temperatures. The result is a pinkish slime that can eventually become red, green, brown or black, coating your ice and lending it an unpleasant taste and smell. To prevent ice machine slime, wipe down and sanitize your ice machines regularly. To combat existing slime, use quaternary ammonium chloride (QAC). This will eliminate the slime and prevent it from reforming for a period of time after its application. If the mold is in your water lines, hoses, or fittings, however, you may need to get them replaced altogether.

With the trend of “healthy eating” on the rise, restaurants are being forced to reconsider their kids’ menus. According to a study by the NPD Group, parents are taking their kids out to eat less and less – meaning restaurants need to revise their game plans and become even more kid-friendly in order to retain customers with families. As picky and fussy as kids may be, they (and their parents) are a very important portion of restaurant patrons and can be a great source of revenue for restaurants seeking to be family-friendly. Luckily, developing a kid-friendly restaurant environment doesn’t require an overhaul of your restaurant equipment. All you need is a little preparation and proactivity:

1. Be Prepared

Before you examine your kids’ menu recipes, make sure that your restaurant facility is well-equipped to feed and entertain multiple families with children. High chairs and booster seats will come in handy for all ages of children who have a tough time sitting still. Be sure to clean and sanitize the high chairs and booster seats every evening, as we all know too well the ensuing disasters when dealing with children and finger foods.

Every year when January 1st rolls around, everyone starts planning out what their new year’s resolutions will be. Invariably, at least one resolution will be shedding a few extra pounds. This is why we at ShortOrder recommend developing a health-focused menu that will encourage customers to keep their resolutions while eating your delicious food. So, below are a few delightfully delicious, but health-conscious suggestions to add to your new menu:

1. Skinny Pizzas

Pizza is most definitely a restaurant staple, which is why it is a great idea to make a lower-calorie pizza. You can do this by using low fat cheeses, a plethora of fresh vegetables, grilled meats, and an ultra thin crust. You can’t go wrong with adding this to your menu.

We have a deep love of deep fryers here at ShortOrder. Why? Because you can fry anything. And it’s hard to argue with a deep-fried Oreo. Seriously, though, restaurants the world over rely on fryers every day to produce a veritable smörgåsbord of piping hot dishes. So whether you want to try out gourmet donuts, deep-fried veggies, or want to add to your repertoire of ways to serve potatoes, a commercial deep fryer for your restaurant is a must. Today, ShortOrder presents everything you ever wanted to know about buying a deep fryer for your restaurant.

Different Types of Deep Fryers

Restaurant equipment suppliers like ShortOrder carry a variety of kinds of commercial deep fryers. When it comes to fryer types, there are 3 basic kinds of heating methods. Each also has different sizes of sediment zones, or “cool zones”, in which excess food pieces fall off of food during the frying process. Thus, different types of fryers are better suited for different uses. Here is our breakdown of restaurant fryer types.

It’s the start of a new year! Now is the best time to inspect and take inventory of your current restaurant equipment. If you are in the market for a new piece of equipment, be sure to click here and check out the Gen2 closeout specials we are currently offering. With a wide variety of equipment to choose from, you should be able to find exactly what you’re looking for.

January is National Soup Month. What’s your favorite soup recipe? Stop by our Facebook page and let us know! While you’re there, make sure you take a look at our one-day only deals! And if you review a product online, you will be automatically entered into ShortOrder’s monthly giveaway. Please join us in congratulating this month’s winner: William Pingree!

Don’t forget to check out our clearance section. We have a wide variety of discontinued, and scratched and dented products that are all covered by the full manufacturer warranty.

In this month’s issue: The Power of Saying ‘No’, Roasted Dates with Bacon as a no-fuss appetizer, and our featured products: a Hatco Heat Lamp, an APW Hot Plate, and a Beverage-Air Deep Well Bottle Cooler.

Do you have any suggestions for us? We are always ready to hear from you. Please drop us a line anytime!

Ann Marie Hillier

The Power of Saying ‘No’

Not All New Opportunities are Good Opportunities

Throughout your business life, there will be times when saying ‘no’ to new opportunities is the best decision to make. Brian Moran outlines five different circumstances in which every business owner should learn to say ‘no’ in his article “The Power of Saying ‘No’.”

1. The Opportunity Doesn’t Get You Closer to Your Goals - If you already have a set plan in place with specific, measurable goals, it will be much easier to determine good opportunities from wild goose chases. You must ask yourself if the presented opportunity will get you closer to reaching those set goals.

2. Your Own House Isn’t in Order – Before you start adding new concepts and ideas to your own business, make sure that your foundation is solid. If you are still in the process of establishing your business, focus on that and hold off on taking advantage of new opportunities until your business is more stable.

3. The Opportunity Siphons Off Valuable Resources from Your Own Projects - As a business owner, you have a finite amount of time, money, and human capital to help you reach your goals. Before taking on a new opportunity, you must ask yourself if you can still achieve your goals while giving this new opportunity access to your finite resources.

4. You Have the Wrong Partner – Before taking on a business partner, make sure that all expectations have been clearly understood and that you have thoroughly researched this person’s background to ensure your long-term goals are compatible.

5.

The Opportunity Doesn’t Align with Your Core Offerings

- Before you say yes to a new opportunity, ask yourself if it will cause any confusion among your customers. If you think it might, be sure to take a second look at the upside potential versus the downside risks.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your ice machines! The predictions for 2014 drink trends are in, and trends are surfacing in on-premise sales, new flavor profiles, and fancy additions to cocktails. Some of the drink trends of 2013 are carrying over into the new year, but many brand new ones are surfacing as well. We’re certain that restaurants’ ice machines will be plenty busy this year as they adjust for the changing beverage scene.

Want to know more? Here are 6 of the top beverage trends to expect in 2014. Ready, set, sip!

1. Premium alcohol beverages are on the rise according to Technomic’s 2013 BarTAB report. Technomic also anticipates continued dollar growth in premium adult beverages during 2014. While conscious of a slow economy, consumers seem to be drinking on-premise less, but spending more—not unlike “the ‘drinking less, but drinking better’ trend of the early 1990s” said Eric Schmidt, Technomic’s director of research. Top contenders to pair your ice machines’ ice with include Irish whiskey, single-malt scotch, and imported vodka.

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